My Sally Garden

The richness of the ancient art of willow basketry for me is the full-circle connection that is intrinsic to the craft. Human hands at every step of the unfolding. Growing the willow, weaving the baskets, using the baskets, and eventually our woven creations rotting down to become soil once again. Many of us, in today’s fast-paced world, are starved for moments with the quiet presence of the land, where our bodies are working with the seasons as we’ve done for generations, and, where in, the slow repetitive work we might possibly find rich and hidden places within ourselves.

The great richness of my craft for me is the depth of relationship and connection it brings into my life—this is a big reason why I choose to harvest the willow by hand, with a traditional hook. This allows slowness to surrender to the rhythm of the work, the cadence of the birdsong bringing rhythm to each movement, and the sweetness of the winter air. It is truly my favourite time of year! It always is a bit heartbreaking with the last willow rod is cut!

Although technology and tools can offer us the gift of ease, efficiency and comfort—they also have the dual ability to create disconnection and severe the relationships that make our lives meaningful. I find that through the winter harvest the use of hand-tools brings a sense of meditation and timelessness into the work—feeding my creativity and solace for the year to come. In the slow and repetitive work of being with yourself and the land, sometimes magical things can happen.

It is only in fairly recent times that humans have become so discounnected from the land—and yet it is through this relationship where our strength, belonging and meaning is born. Someone once said that all wisdom and truth comes from Nature—I would be one to agree with this.

Le beannachtaí mór

The Growing Season

The Harvest

The Sorting and Bundling